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qatarperegrineToday was the kind of day that makes living in Qatar worthwhile. (And I don't just mean because it rained!)
At lunch, a guest speaker from Georgetown led a discussion on the topic "De Tocqueville in Doha: An Investigation into Civil Society in Qatar." De Tocqueville, in case you've never heard of him, was a French political philosopher who spent 9 months in the U.S. in 1831 and then wrote Democracy in America, which explored the aspects of American society that made democracy function there in ways that it hadn't elsewhere. One of de Tocqueville's most influential ideas was that the health of a democracy depends on a strong civil society -- voluntary organizations and institutions that are separate from the governmental structure. These associations build societal trust, provide forums for people to exchange ideas with people from different walks of life, and even provide checks and balances against the power of the government.
So what does Qatar have in the way of civil society? There's a whole lot of face-to-face assocation that goes on, but our impression is that it tends to be within tribes and family groups, and that doesn't really count. One person proposed that the majlis might be the locus of Qatari civil society, because that's where men gather to exchange ideas and talk late into the night. But majalis tend to be of men from the same tribe, too. Someone else suggested what I was thinking, that the mosques are really the focal point of Qatari civil society. Men of all classes and nationalities pray shoulder to shoulder several times a day, and then they may sit around and talk or gather outside of the mosque. (It's no accident that the anti-cartoon protests here a couple weeks ago were held at one of the main mosques, just after the main Friday prayers.) Since the extreme segmentation of classes here is my main beef with Qatari society, I am hopeful about Qatari civil society being based around an institution that demands that all men be treated as equal before God. (It should not pass without notice that women are excluded from both majlis and masjid. And I will leave aside the whole question of whether religious authority is a beneficial check against government authority.)
The group ended up talking about a lot of other issues related to Qatar's political situation, though -- following the lead of de Tocqueville, who didn't feel that being a foreigner disqualified him from writing a two-volume tome analyzing America's strengths and weaknesses. I learned about a new law, for example, that explicitly creates different classes of citizenship for Qataris from different kinds of backgrounds; I hope to learn more about that and write about it later. It's frustrating to me that, though I read the paper every day, the most important news seems not to be written down. I learn the most interesting things about Qatari politics and society in informal hallway conversations -- and then am asked not to repeat the information. Sigh.
Anyway, the point was, it was a really wonderful presentation and conversation. (Thank you![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kgilmore for arranging it.)
Then, this evening, I had dinner at the dean's house. They're inviting the faculty and staff over in small groups this year, and mixing up the groups so we end up eating with people we don't work with all the time. I think it's an awesome idea. None of the people at the dinner tonight (a CS prof, the counselor, the former CIO, our network guy) are people I hang out with regularly, but they're all great people and we had some very wonderful conversations on all kinds of topics -- from the complicated ethics of the university's role in inculcating students with democratic values, to the real reason John Leong was looking up a Barbie doll's skirt.
I was feeling very emotionally self-involved today, so it was really very good for me to go socialize and have some intellectually stimulating conversation. And yummy food. Never underestimate the power of yummy food.
At lunch, a guest speaker from Georgetown led a discussion on the topic "De Tocqueville in Doha: An Investigation into Civil Society in Qatar." De Tocqueville, in case you've never heard of him, was a French political philosopher who spent 9 months in the U.S. in 1831 and then wrote Democracy in America, which explored the aspects of American society that made democracy function there in ways that it hadn't elsewhere. One of de Tocqueville's most influential ideas was that the health of a democracy depends on a strong civil society -- voluntary organizations and institutions that are separate from the governmental structure. These associations build societal trust, provide forums for people to exchange ideas with people from different walks of life, and even provide checks and balances against the power of the government.
So what does Qatar have in the way of civil society? There's a whole lot of face-to-face assocation that goes on, but our impression is that it tends to be within tribes and family groups, and that doesn't really count. One person proposed that the majlis might be the locus of Qatari civil society, because that's where men gather to exchange ideas and talk late into the night. But majalis tend to be of men from the same tribe, too. Someone else suggested what I was thinking, that the mosques are really the focal point of Qatari civil society. Men of all classes and nationalities pray shoulder to shoulder several times a day, and then they may sit around and talk or gather outside of the mosque. (It's no accident that the anti-cartoon protests here a couple weeks ago were held at one of the main mosques, just after the main Friday prayers.) Since the extreme segmentation of classes here is my main beef with Qatari society, I am hopeful about Qatari civil society being based around an institution that demands that all men be treated as equal before God. (It should not pass without notice that women are excluded from both majlis and masjid. And I will leave aside the whole question of whether religious authority is a beneficial check against government authority.)
The group ended up talking about a lot of other issues related to Qatar's political situation, though -- following the lead of de Tocqueville, who didn't feel that being a foreigner disqualified him from writing a two-volume tome analyzing America's strengths and weaknesses. I learned about a new law, for example, that explicitly creates different classes of citizenship for Qataris from different kinds of backgrounds; I hope to learn more about that and write about it later. It's frustrating to me that, though I read the paper every day, the most important news seems not to be written down. I learn the most interesting things about Qatari politics and society in informal hallway conversations -- and then am asked not to repeat the information. Sigh.
Anyway, the point was, it was a really wonderful presentation and conversation. (Thank you
kgilmore for arranging it.)Then, this evening, I had dinner at the dean's house. They're inviting the faculty and staff over in small groups this year, and mixing up the groups so we end up eating with people we don't work with all the time. I think it's an awesome idea. None of the people at the dinner tonight (a CS prof, the counselor, the former CIO, our network guy) are people I hang out with regularly, but they're all great people and we had some very wonderful conversations on all kinds of topics -- from the complicated ethics of the university's role in inculcating students with democratic values, to the real reason John Leong was looking up a Barbie doll's skirt.
I was feeling very emotionally self-involved today, so it was really very good for me to go socialize and have some intellectually stimulating conversation. And yummy food. Never underestimate the power of yummy food.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-24 01:39 pm (UTC)